


What We Least Expect

by inkbadger



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: And to suffer in silence, Angst, Anxiety Attacks, Because it's Lance, Everyone just wants Lance to know he's loved, Fluff, Gen, Happy Ending, Homesickness, Hunk is a saint, Hurt/Comfort, It's sad at first, Lance forgets it's his birthday, Lance wants his mama, Langst, The paladins don't know it's his birthday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-29
Updated: 2017-07-29
Packaged: 2018-12-08 09:49:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11644017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkbadger/pseuds/inkbadger
Summary: When Lance forgets it's his birthday, he doesn't take it well. So he retreats to the Blue Lion. But his team aren't about to let him celebrate his birthday alone. That's what family's for, right?





	What We Least Expect

**Author's Note:**

> It's short, it's sweet, and I posted it on Lance's birthday! (Even though it says I posted on tomorrow's date. Boo.)

It was as he was peeling himself out of his paladin armor, wincing at the new bruises and scrapes he’d received during the battle that day, that Lance realized that tomorrow was his birthday.

He paused at the thought, mind running through the mental calculations- space had a different way of measuring time, as it turned out- and realized that it was true. Tomorrow would be his first birthday in space, away from Earth and home and everything familiar-

His legs gave out from beneath him, and Lance sat heavily on the edge of his bed, ignoring the aches and pains in favor of trying to suck enough oxygen into his lungs as they decided to betray him.

 _You’re having an anxiety attack,_ his mind helpfully informed him as he continued to futilely suck in much needed air. He leaned forward, head between his knees, and focused on trying to take one shaky breath, then another. Slowly, glacially, Lance found that he could inhale without feeling the deep ache in his chest after several long minutes, though he still felt unbalanced.

The thought of being in space made him feel nauseous- homesickness slammed into his chest with the force of a bullet, and he exhaled shakily, the uncomfortable heat of tears at the corners of his eyes a pretty clear warning sign that he was not okay.

He wanted to bury himself in a thousand layers of blankets until he stopped feeling like this.

He wanted to go home.

He wanted his mama to hold him in her arms and run her fingers through his hair and tell him that everything was okay.

He wanted Blue.

 

* * *

 

 

“Hey, has anyone seen Lance?”

It was Shiro who asked, his brows furrowed as he entered the kitchen, crossing his arms over his chest.

Pidge- comatose and with a cup of alien coffee grasped between her fingers- shrugged. She’d been up all night working on the lions and a couple of other projects that were probably best left alone, and it showed with the possessiveness she displayed with the mug and the dark bags under her eyes. (How she even functioned at this level was something to be admired and feared by all.)

Keith frowned, shaking his head as he paused in cleaning his knife. He wasn’t much of a morning person- after finishing his early training, he’d showered and then nearly been dragged to the kitchen by Hunk when the larger man had come across him. After all, Hunk knew Keith’s preference to simply skip meals in the morning in favour of continuing to train, and the maternal side of the larger man simply wouldn’t stand for it.

Hunk-

Well, Hunk froze, brows furrowing, looking like he was suddenly trying to puzzle out a difficult equation.

No one had seen Lance since they’d gotten back from their latest- and hard earned- victory against the Galra the night before. He’d been tired, bruised, and pretending that he wasn’t as injured as he probably was. A typical Lance trait, though he would never admit it.

They’d all parted ways, Lance headed to his room, likely to nurse his wounds in privacy. Hunk had stayed up a little later, destressing by tinkering around with some ideas for prosthetics for Shiro before headed to bed himself.

Was it something to do with holidays?

He knew Lance kept a calendar of sorts- he’d asked for Hunk’s help to map one out shortly after they’d gotten settled as paladins so that they could track holidays and the like. If his memory served correctly, and the amount of time passed was correct….

Oh.

 _Oh_.

“Quiznak.”

 

* * *

 

 

Blue’s warmth surrounded him as he sat curled in the pilots chair, his largest blanket wrapped around him and his gaze blank as he toyed with the edges of the fabric.

It was his twentieth birthday, and he was in the middle of an unknown galaxy, however many light years away from home and his family.

His eyes watered as he imagined, not for the first time, the events that would have taken place if he was on Earth. His younger siblings- and likely his older siblings- would have tumbled into his room, a cacophony of joyful noise and rambunctious movement as they leapt onto his bed. In their household, a birthday became a family event, everyone participating with the same enthusiasm as a puppy gnawing on a slipper.

Next his mother would come to lean against the doorframe, polaroid in hand to snap another picture to add to their family album, her dark hair hanging around her shoulders and her house-coat draped around her shoulders.

One of his siblings would push a gift into his hands- usually the siblings grouped together to get gifts, so there were usually only three or four gifts. It didn’t matter to Lance. Each and every gift he’d ever received meant something to him. Whether it was seashells collected by the younger siblings, or the second-hand surfboard his older brother and sister had collaborated on when he was sixteen, each and every gift was held close in Lance’s heart.

He couldn’t conjure up a thought as to what this year would have been like. What was his mama doing now? Was she lighting a candle for him, mourning a son that she didn’t know would come home? Did she think he was dead? His siblings?

“I miss them, Blue.” He said quietly, curling up a little tighter, pulling the blanket closer around his shoulders. “Mama would always make a dinner and cake for us. Whoever’s birthday it was got to pick the kind of cake and what was for dinner. I remember when Alejandra wanted milkshakes for dinner when we were younger. Mama laughed and said that she could have one as long as we had something else to eat too.”

Blue’s mental presence nudged against him, surrounding him in maternal sympathy and affection. She loved her paladin deeply, and was upset that she couldn’t give him the happiness he wanted.

“Hey beautiful, don’t be sad. It’s-“

He would have said fine, but it wasn’t, really.

Silence replaced his trail of thought. For a while, Lance didn’t think about any of it, just listening to the low humming of Blue’s systems around him, allowing it to lull him into a light doze.

“Lance, are you in here?”

Blinking, Lance turned to look out the window that comprised Blue’s eyes, startled at the sight of the entire team standing at the base of his lion.

Blue rumbled, moving before Lance could say anything, opening her jaw to allow them entrance as Lance sputtered a weak protest that did nothing to change his lion’s mind. Once Blue had made up her mind, good luck attempting to change it.

Hunk was the first one through the door, and at seeing Lance, sighed in relief.

“He’s in here!” he called.

It wasn’t long before the rest of the paladins, Allura and Coran were all surrounding him, looks of concern on their features.

“You should have said something about it being your birthday, Lance.” Pidge said as she launched herself onto his lap, a wheeze leaving him- along with the rest of the limited oxygen in his lungs. “You shouldn’t be alone like this.”

Something in his chest tightened at the thought that they knew that it was his birthday, and he ducked his head. Hunk had probably figured it out- he _had_ been the one that had helped him figure out their calendar system, after all.

“Hey. None of that.” Hunk scolded, leaning over the back of his chair. “I know how homesick you’ve been. That’s why there’s a cake in the oven- at least, I hope it’s a cake. Coran wasn’t really clear on the ingredients, so I winged it.”

“Of course it is!” the elder Altean defended indignantly, puffing up his chest. Allura soothed him with an amused smile and a pat on the shoulder. They all knew that while Coran tried his best, cooking was one such thing that he should never be allowed to try without supervision.

“Anyway, we’ve got some of that soup leftover if you want that for dinner tonight, or I can make something else for you. I know you said that your mom usually let you pick what you wanted for dinner, right?”

“And we have presents, too!” Pidge piped up again, snuggling into his chest and beaming at him through her glasses. “You’re going to love mine and Hunk’s. We collaborated.”

He couldn’t help it- the absolute easy acceptance that they were all showing him was too much for Lance, and he burst into tears. Keith immediately looked panicked, eyes seeking out Shiro for some kind of sign of how he was supposed to help before awkwardly leaning around Hunk to pat his shoulder.

“Hey, hey, none of that.” Shiro said gently. “We just want you to be happy today, Lance. It’s your birthday.”

“Happy tears. Promise.” He managed to choke out between sobs, clinging on to Pidge as Hunk ran his fingers through his hair.

 

* * *

 

 

Years later, despite not quite being done the battle of the universe, each and every birthday was spent amongst themselves, Hunk baking some semblance of a cake- on Hunk’s birthday, Lance and Pidge managed to figure out a recipe that didn’t catch on fire or poison anyone. It was the seven of them and no one else, and they’d even managed to include Allura and Coran in on the fun by picking random days for their birthdays.

The gifts were sometimes simple, depending on where in the universe they were, and sometimes they were extravagant. The hoverbike that Lance had found in a space mall that he, Pidge and Hunk had upgraded so that he could store it in Red. Or the prosthetic that Hunk had finally managed to finish for Shiro. Or the cookbook that Lance and Hunk had made for Coran, with promises of showing him how to make most of the dishes before setting him loose.

And when the birthday came that he was on Earth, the best gift Lance could have ever asked for was the look of absolute astonishment and love that greeted him when his mother opened the door to see him standing there.


End file.
